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Woke up late (it is vacation!) and made our way to the V&A Waterfront in preparation for our 11am boat ride to Robben Island... but the 11am sailing had been cancelled. We hung around the Waterfront for a bit (until the ticket line dies down) and then were able to trade in the tix for two the next morning at 7:30am.
From the V&A Waterfront, we headed to the Castle of Good Hope. The Castle is in downtown Cape Town by the bus terminal and there's a very different feel from the all-white areas we'd spent most of our time in.
The Military Museum in the Castle was, surprisingly, the most interesting part. There were uniforms from the British/Dutch/Boer military including a full-on kilt outfit from the Highland Regiment and a stuffed pony with a feathered headdress that entirely entranced me. There were also 'vases' (more akin to the Stanley Cup than a bouquet holder) that the British government awarded to soldiers for military service. I suspect most people would rather have had the money!
We wandered the Castle for a bit and then strolled around downtown Cape Town. Although predominantly black and seemlingly quite poor, this area felt more comfortable to me than the mostly white areas. There was more co-mingling and I felt less tension...
We had lunch at a little vegetarian restaurant on Long Street (yummy grilled veg spring rolls for me and caprese salad for John with fruit smoothies) in the midst of our downtown wander... and then headed back to the car.
After leaving downtown, we drove past Camps Bay towards the Cape of Good Hope. We actually made it to the Cape National Park after going through Scarborough and an awesome toll road. Lots of tight corners and sharp drop-offs to the surf below.
We stopped and grabbed some fruit and crackers for dinner and then pulled off the road between the Cape and Camps Bay to watch the sunset. John took lots of photos and the view was amazing.
It was a pretty early night in preparation for the early morning ahead.
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